Psychedelicatessen: Herbalicious Pot Pesto Lasagna

Welcome to Psychedelicatessen, a weekly column exploring the world of cannabis cuisine, including recipes from the great chefs and ganjapreneurs who fuel our appetite for adventure.

Chef Amber has been on a roll, creating award-winning pastries at Santa Cruz based Greenway dispensary. Since 2010, Amber has taken home three Cannabis Cup awards for her infused biscotti, baklava and ginger cookies. Previous to her employment at Greenway, Amber made high-end wedding cakes, but a struggle with cancer inspired her to dedicate her talents to the medical marijuana edibles business. Today, business is still going strong, no doubt due to her reputation for high-quality delicious cannabis cuisine!

Patients at Greenway come in looking for baklava or biscotti, but they may leave with Amber’s gluten-free crackers or high-CBD capsules. “We need to get back to more earthy food,” Amber says, “Seven out of every ten people have some type of gluten intolerance, and I think it’s due to GMO wheat.” Gluten-free cannabis edibles have become popular, along with the traditional favorites. “People who have sweettooths are always going to get sweets,” Amber says, “So I developed a new product — tiny, pocket-sized pies!” Along with cannabis-infused mini-pies, Amber has been working on providing more CDB-rich items, which have been in high demand.

Amber’s recipe for Herbalicious Pot Pesto Lasagna was inspired by a book on herbalism that mentioned an anti-cancer combination of parsley, rosemary, basil, oregano, and garlic, to be consumed everyday. “I added my favorite herb, cannabis, and included these in a guilty pleasure — lasagna!” Amber exclaims. Balancing out the cheese by including tons of fresh veggies and herbs, plus some nutritious hemp seed, makes this lasagna perfect for summer potluck dinners.

Your cannabis dose comes from an olive oil infusion, and Chef Amber recommends heating the cannabis in oil on low heat for at least an hour, and letting it sit for at least four hours before heating again, then cooling to room temperature and straining through fine-grain cheesecloth. “Keep your oil in the freezer for three to six months if you aren’t using it immediately,” Amber cautions.

I used one tablespoon of MaGooch’s Gravity Lock Oil to dose my pesto, which contains a whopping 180 milligrams of THC. Spread over twelve servings, an individual dose would be 15 milligrams of THC, so eat two pieces for maximum delight and serve with a zesty green salad on the side. Based on the potency of your cannabis oil, your dosage will be vary!

Equipment:

9″ x 13″ Pyrex baking dish

Sauté the onion over medium-high heat for five minutes, until translucent. Add zucchini and broccoli, sauté for three minutes, then add the spinach and cook until it is wilted. Set veggie mix aside to cool. Once cooled, add ricotta and cottage cheese and stir to combine.

Preheat oven to 425ºF.

If using no-bake lasagna noodles, you can simply layer the dry noodles into the dish and they will cook and expand in the oven. If your noodles need to be boiled first, cook according to package directions.

Assemble lasagna in three layers, first spreading a thin layer of marinara sauce into the bottom of your baking dish. Then add six to eight heaping spoonfuls of veggie mix (about one-third of the total amount), then two or three handfuls of mozzarella, then noodles. Spread pesto over the noodles. Repeat to form three layers, ending with noodles, marinara sauce and parmesan cheese on top. Cover with foil, and cook for 30 minutes. Remove foil and cool for an additional 10 minutes until brown and bubbly on top. Cool for 20 minutes and enjoy!